El Dorado County: 70-year-old woman held in killing of her husband

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A 70-year-old Northern California woman was being held without bail after being arrested for allegedly killing her husband - the second time in nearly 30 years she's been accused of killing a spouse.

Colleen Ann Harris was arrested last week, when deputies were called to her home in rural Placerville and found 72-year-old Robert Harris dead of a gunshot wound, El Dorado County officials said.

Robert Harris was identified by officials as Colleen Harris' husband, though Sacramento television station CBS13 reported the (http://on.news10.net/10svAcK ) the couple divorced in 2004, but later reconciled.

Harris' arrest came more than a decade after she was charged in the 1985 shotgun killing of her then-husband, 46-year-old James Batten.

In that case, prosecutors claimed she had killed Batten over a property dispute. Her defense attorney argued that the killing was self-defense because of ongoing abuse, The Sacramento Bee (http://bit.ly/SuK1JR ) reported Sunday.

Jurors acquitted her after a judge declined to allow a lesser charge of manslaughter.

In last week's death, deputies found Robert Harris dead from a shotgun blast after getting a call from an attorney representing Colleen Harris, The Bee said.

After making her initial appearance Wednesday, Harris was ordered to return to court on Jan. 16.

"She definitely wants to present a defense at the proper time and in the proper manner," attorney Dain Weiner, told The Bee. Weiner's father, David, represented Harris in the earlier shooting trial.

A call to their law firm Sunday by The Associated Press seeking comment was not immediately returned.

If convicted of the latest charges, Harris could be sentenced to 25 years to life.

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El Dorado County: 70-year-old woman held in killing of her husband

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A 70-year-old Northern California woman was being held without bail after being arrested for allegedly killing her husband - the second time in nearly 30 years she's been

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